Since I am always honest with you, I can tell you THE truth. The truth is . . . a graphic designers job is to make you look good & you can get a logo, business card, letterhead or website almost anywhere.

In this day and age, there are SO many talented graphic designers to choose from.

I am ABSOLUTELY, Positively sure, if you did some looking you will find a designer (or two) with skills superior to mine, and a few with a long list of accomplishments & awards, and quite possible one that will (*gasp*) . . . do it for free.

(Yeah, yeah I have to admit, that hurt my ego a little bit. )

The market is saturated with great designers. So how is someone like you going to make the RIGHT choice for you?

Friends, not only are you looking for someone who has a good understanding of what your needs are, you need someone that will put their creativity to work for you, but you are also in need of someone who can effectively communicate your message to your customers and clients in a SUPER cool way. HINT hint: the key word here is effectively!

And what if you don’t have a message? GOOD question! You want someone with the skills and creativity to help you develop that message.

You want someone to give you marketability.

What is Marketable?

The Free Dictionary says marketable is:

marketable [ˈmɑːkɪtəbəl]
adj

• a. being in good demand; saleable
  b. suitable for sale

1. (Business / Commerce) (of commodities, assets, etc.)

2. (Business / Commerce) of or relating to buying or selling on a market marketable value

marketability , marketableness n
marketably adv

Even if you don’t know what your message is, you have one. You are sending a message to your clients and customers with every single contact.  That’s right . . . E V E R Y  S I N G L E  contact!

You have a demographic and a target audience. And that audience can’t wait to buy what you have to offer. Using visual persuasion I can help you entice them with what your selling.

A graphic designers job is to make you look good. My job is to make you marketable.

I have a confession . . . I am a Facebook junkie! I don’t know if it’s done any permanent damage but, it IS a new revelation. I like MySpace, but I love LOVE love Facebook!  I recently decided to jump on the social media bandwagon because so many friends and family members are using it as a way of communicating. Now, I can tell you, I must waste at least two hours a day (easily) on Facebook.

I was totally over the top about updating and revamping a simple website for a upbeat local hot spot that had “mastered” the art of social media marketing.   The Original Hannah Flanagan’s was quietly taking advantage of this inexpensive yet effective marketing strategy. The beauty of it is so simple a kid can do it!  I have to admit, I am truly inspired!

If you are not using Facebook or Myspace, you are not alone.  Hear my heart when I tell you.  I know exactly how you feel… I resisted for so long.  (too long) I was intimidated and super closed off the opening myself up to anything new.

But here is the thing . .  And you own your own business, “It’s time!” It’s time to step out of your comfort zone and give  it a try … use it for a few months.  If you don’t like it you can always go back to the way things were before.    When I say use it, I’m not saying make a profile and let it sit for a few months, doing nothing with it.  (I know I did that too) When I say use it, I mean search, connect, join and play. And until you search, connect, join and play, you haven’t really given social networking a fair shake.  Once you do, I think you will be pleasantly surprised by how un-scary it is.

It’s actually kind of embarrassing because even before Facebook and MySpace, I spent a good portion of time online anyways. I don’t really know why I resisted social networking sites for so long. 

Anyways, now because of my new found addiction, I now have a new motto . . . “My name is Monica and I am addicted to Facebook.”

The REAL reason any business has a website it to increase revenue.  Your website design, layout and color scheme play and import role in determining your marketability.

Just because it looks super duper cool doesn’t mean it will sell your product or service.

A good example of this is, not everyone thinks that black is cool.  Depending on your target market, your dark color scheme and choice of graphics can be unfamiliar, gloomy, scary and depressing.  And this may not be the message you intend to give.

The thing about advertising, marketing and public relations is, there are no guarantees.  (Yeah, I know . . . I was so disappointed to learn this.) Experts, say it’s all in the numbers.  A certain number or percentage of people landing on your page will ACTUALLY make contact or buy something.  This is your conversion rate. That percentage is significantly decreased when you have second rate presentation (design) or if you are sending your customers the wrong message.

They click in (for a few seconds) . . . and then they back out.  This is a good thing! That is half the battle!  It’s just . . . not everyone likes your really cool flash animated lime green layout.  Don’t get me wrong . . . I’m not saying your website shouldn’t reflect your personality.  But I am saying, you definitely want to give your click-ins something (or someone) to RELATE to.

An effective strategy and way to grab the attention of your website traffic is to use inside-out marketing design.  Together, you and your designer (hopefully me) come up with a plan to show them and tell them what they want to see and hear, about what you have to offer, thus giving you a higher chance for converting your traffic (or click-ins) to actual customers.

Use your website design to be marketable. So many times we are so busy sharing the story we want to tell, we forget, our potential customer clicked in for a reason.  Give a reason to stay.

So you say you have this GREAT IDEA for a website you have been kicking around for a while?

C’mon already!  Let’s put your smarts to good use!

Now is the time to dust off your idea because I am about to give you some much needed, practical advice, on how to get the ball rolling (in the right direction) so that you can get started!

First things first . . . if you aren’t already, you need to get motivated! Your idea can bring you fame, wealth, self-employment, self-satisfaction, even life fulfillment. That should be motivation enough!

1. You need a domain name, (the shorter the better) preferably a dot com.  Advice: Don’t pay more than $9.99 a year for this.
2. You need a web host.  All that really is is a file online that holds all your webpages, scripts and the images that create your website.
3. You need a platform or content management system or a shopping cart, sometimes both.  (some web hosting companies provide this free)
4. You need a brand image design or a corporate identity depending on what you are going to sell.
5. You need a marketing strategy.  Who wants to buy what you have to offer?

It will take some time for your domain name to age, so it’s important to get the first two steps done sooner rather that later.  Otherwise you may end up paying a premium for any website traffic by paying per click rates.

It’s doubly important to secure the domain name you want so someone else doesn’t buy it before you do.  It happens, it’s happened to me before, yeah I know, OUCH! So even if you aren’t in a position to do anything with it today, secure it.

The only thing I may have left out above is  . . .  start blogging . . .  ASAP!   Even if you think no one is reading it, keep blogging.  The benefits of search engines reading your website while your domain name is aging are enormous.

Actively taking a step toward accomplishing putting your idea into action is much easier than you think!  Remember, I’m always here to help!

So you wanna start a small (possibly home based) web based business? Well then, I have something super cool to share with you. It is in my opinion one of the most profitable business concepts available. It’s a little something I like to call niche-ify.

Let me see if I can explain this . . . Do you like Monopoly? I love Monopoly! I always buy (and negotiate ownership of) all of the railroads.  If I own every single railroad, I dominate.  In the game of monopoly, owning all four railroads means, I can charge $200.00 every time someone lands on any one of my railroads.  And the chance of one or several players (paying customers) landing on one or more of the four the railroads is pretty darn good.  This a a good example of niche-ify or niche.

Real world translation . . . In the simplest terms available, niche marketing is finding and capitalizing on a specialized product or service.

A good real life example of a niche website is an online boutique selling only Eco-friendly luxury products. A website like this will focus on only customers that are willing to pay top dollar for some of the most luxurious, (hard to find) earth friendly (green) products on the market. This website will have a limited targeted audience, but has a tremendous potential to be extremely successful within their niche.

By creating a niche you have found a way of  NOT competing with mainstream providers.  In my game of monopoly, I own all the railroads.  So when it comes to railroads and train stations, I have no competition.  None, zilt, zilch! It becomes my specialization.

This is why niche is so cool?  It’s a really awesome way of eliminating competition.

Successful niche websites are usually created by people who have a burning desire to either learn, or already have a huge surplus of knowledge to share about their niche.   This means the search engines send them lots (and lots) of love.  Their knowledge, focus (and content) makes their websites extremely search-able. And that’s really freaking cool!

By focusing on a niche, you have a greater chance of your ideal (paying) customer finding your website on the internet using your niche-ified search terms.

Now . . . All you have to do is find your specialization, and you have found your niche!  Start small, aim big and FOCUS!